THE SWAMP DEER 
(CERVUS DUVAUCELI) 
r HIS graceful deer inhabits Assam and the country south of 
the Himalayas as far west as Kumaon; also the Central Pro- 
vinces, especially the Mandla district; it is not found in 
Southern India or Ceylon. 
Although the horns sometimes carry many points, the form is 
unusual, as the bez and trez tines are always absent. These deer 
are generally called Barasingh (or twelve -tined) by the natives, but this 
name is apt to lead to mistakes, as the same word is applied to the Kashmir 
stag. In the Terai districts they rejoice in marshy country, but in the Cen- 
tral Provinces, where the ground is much drier, they seem to exist quite 
happily. 
They are said to drop their horns in the hot weather about the same time 
as the sambur. This may be the case in the Central Provinces, where I saw 
stags which had apparently finished the rut and left the does by March 20 ; 
but in Assam, another year, I saw two stags shot in the velvet on March 7, 
and their horns would not have been clean for another two or three weeks. 
This rather leads one to suppose that the season varies in different 
districts. 
The swamp deer is gregarious. Stebbing remarks that, when emerging 
from the forest to feed, the old stag of the party often goes first, whereas 
with the more wary chital the reverse is the case. 
Stalking or still hunting swamp deer and sambur is a delightful sport 
during the cold weather in India, and as you never know what other game 
may be met with, it is as well to always have the heavy rifle handy. In the 
early dawn or late evening it is a good plan to have the sun at one’s back, 
especially if there is not much covert about; but the most carefully executed 
stalk is sometimes spoilt by the chattering of a family of monkeys. 
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